GTA may land Hills in trouble: Wattar

SNS, DARJEELING, 15 April 2013: A veteran CPI-M leader from the Darjeeling Hills, Mr K B Wattar, today said the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution is a better option than the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) for the Hills. “But it is not the best option,” he added.

He said in the same breath that his party is not against the GTA per se. “However, the problem is that the GTA remains bereft of any constitutional guarantee. This may land the Hills in trouble in the coming days. The revival of the representative panchayat system in the Hills is uncertain. We wonder how a body acting under an Act that has no Constitutional standing can govern a constitutional system,” he said. “We went against Mr Subash Ghisingh's attempt to ram the Sixth Schedule down the Hills as it is basically a tribal-specific provision. The need of the hour is to devise autonomy in a new way that would cater to the interests of all sections of the people. The body must be adorned with sufficient legislative and financial powers, though the judiciary and home should be kept out of its purview,” the Marxist leader from the Hills said.

He threw his weight behind the GJMM, citing the latter’s eagerness to develop the Hills. “It is a good sign that they have kept agitation on hold. They are veering round to the view that movement in the name of Gorkhaland at this point of time is meaningless,” he said.  

He expressed concern over a new party ~ Bharatiya Gorkha Janhit Morcha ~ having been formed in the Hills. “This party might have links with the Maoists. The administration should immediately try to find out who have floated it,” he said.